Written Answers Tuesday 11 October 2005

Scottish Executive

Drug Misuse

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is offering to local drugs forums in communities throughout Scotland.

Hugh Henry: The Executive provides £1.5 million per annum to drugs action teams for support activities, some of which is used to engage and assist local drug forums. We also provide funding to the Scottish Drugs Forum to provide a range of services to local drug forums and community groups, including capacity building training and project support.

Legal Aid

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on legal aid in each year since 1997.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is given in the annual reports published by The Scottish Legal Aid Board covering the years from 1997 to 2004, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers: 33949, 33950, 4242, 7928, 14881, 22809, 28678 and 33909).

Ministerial Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Justice will respond to my letter of 29 August 2005 regarding police attendance at incidents of drug overdosing.

Cathy Jamieson: A response to your letter was issued on 10 October 2005.

NHS Funding

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been provided for NHS Scotland publications in each of the last six years.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is not possible to collate these figures from the accounting system since expenditure on publications and consultations is met from a variety of programme lines and a number of suppliers are involved.

National Health Service

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when all pending decisions regarding the future of acute hospital accident and emergency and maternity services in Western Isles Hospital, Caithness General Hospital, Belford Hospital, Perth Royal Infirmary, Forth Park Hospital, Queen Margaret Hospital, Stirling Royal Infirmary, the Vale of Leven Hospital, Falkirk Royal Infirmary, Monklands Hospital, Stobhill Hospital, the Western Infirmary, the Victoria Infirmary, Wishaw General Hospital, Hairmyres Hospital, Ayr Hospital and the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy will be made and whether the final approval by the Minister for Health and Community Care of these decisions will be given for all at the same time before the Executive comments on the Kerr report and, if not, on what date it expects to be able to take a ministerial decision on these services.

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS boards are responsible for determining the future pattern of accident and emergency and maternity services in their areas in the context of their own service strategies, provided these strategies are consistent with national policy and guidance.

  Boards must consult publicly and seek ministerial approval for any proposals that involve significant service change. I have made it clear that proposals for service change must also be consistent with the national framework set out in Professor Kerr’s report Building a Health Service Fit for the Future. The Executive is at present finalising its detailed response to the report and will publish it shortly. We do not expect NHS boards to approve any new plans for service change until they have tested their proposals against it. The only exceptions would be where I am advised that there is an imminent risk to sustaining clinical safety.

  Local strategies involving accident and emergency and/or maternity services at a number of the hospitals listed in your question have already been subject to consultation and have received ministerial approval where appropriate. Service proposals at some others are still subject to consultation and Ministerial approval. The timing of final decisions on these is likely to be different depending on NHS boards’ consideration of the Executive’s response to the Kerr report and the timing of their consultations and their submission of proposals for Ministerial approval.

Scottish Executive Staff

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total relocation costs were to it of employing new staff in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: Information about the salary costs of new staff recruited due to relocation is not held centrally.

Smoking

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the number of environmental health officers required in each local authority area to police the smoking restrictions provided for by the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 and whether it considers that the current number of officers is sufficient to achieve a satisfactory level of policing.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on local authorities to enforce the smoke free legislation. It is for local authorities to take a view on the appropriate level of staffing to enforce the legislation.